Railroad toilet



Oct. 26 1926.

A. L. LEVY RAILROAD TOILET Filed August 31 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l l/vinyl. Z-

Oct. 26,1926. 1,604,456

A. L. LEVY RAILROAD TOILET File August 51 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f: k f

rarer ries.

ABRAHAM L. LEVY, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

RAILROAD TOILET.

Application filed August 31, 1925.

The object of my invention is to provide toilet facilities for a railway car, the discharge whereof can be controlled from a point outside of the toilet room but preferably from a point within the car, thus permitting said facilities to be used at all times but preventing the occupants from releasing the controls for said facilities to discharge the contents in towns, station yards and the like, which discharge would constitute a nuisance.

A. further object of my invention is to pro vide control devices of this character, which do not communicate directly with the dis charge outlet of said toilet facilities, that is, constitute a valve or closure therefor, and thus my improved control devices are adapted to co-operate with any type of railway car, with no alteration. I attain this lat ter object by providing a relatively large open-top bucket which is hingedly attached to the under surface of the floor and in one position is swung into a horizontal plane in vertical alinement with the outlet for the railway toilet and with the open mouth of said bucket against said floor, forming a seal therewith. In this position said bucket is adapted to receive and hold the discharge from the railway toilet without affecting the operation of the latter. In another position, said bucket hangs pendent from its hinges and. is out of alinement with the discharge outlet, and all of its bottom surfaces are arranged to slope downwardly, to drain.

A further object of my invention is to provide control devices for the operating mechanism, which devices are adapted to be connected to the operating mechanism by a flexible cable so that said control mechanism and said connection can be easily adjusted to correspond to the structural characteris tics of the particular railway car. The control for said operating mechanism is preferably located to face the aisle of said railway car and is preferably key-controlled so as to be operable only by the railway attendant who has a proper key.

The details of construction and mode of operation are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the interior of a railway car showing the aisle of the toilet room thereof, a portion of the floor and the door for said car therefor being shown as broken away to Serial No. 53,534.

disclose the otherwise concealed details of construction of the operating mechanism embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary exterior elevation of a railway car with portions shown as broken away to disclose details of construc-- tion of the toilet facilities and the control therefor;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken through that portion of the railway car in which the toilet 'is located, portions also being shown as broken away to disclose details of the operating and control mechanism for said toilet facilities;

Fig. 4f is a fragmentary, foreshortened elevation of the operating and control mechanism which embodies my invention, said elevation being taken from one side of the car, thus longitudinally thereof;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 taken transversely of the car; said figure shows the portion of the bucket-like control in its closed position and in its discharging posi tion, the arrangement of the parts in discharging position being shown in dotted lines.

My improved control mechanism is adapted to be embodied in a standard railway coach a, provided with a toilet room 6 separated from the remainder of the car by a partition a, which partition ordinarily separates said toilet room from the main aisle a of said car. Said car is provided with longitudinally arranged frame members cZ underneath the floor 6 of said car, said frame members usually being two in number and being arranged at each side of the longitudinal center line of said car. My improved operating mechanism for controlling the discharge from the toilet facilities 7, are preferably mounted upon the longitudinally arranged frame member of the car at that side thereof.

Brackets g are bolted to the outer face of said frame member by bolts 9 and said brackets carry pivoted arms 7L spaced apart and preferably connected by a rod 2' so as to form said arms into a rigid structure so that they will move together about their pivot pins 9 An open top bucket j is fastened to the under surface of the floor e by hinges 70, said bucket being arranged so that in one position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 5, the open top thereof will bear tightly against the under surface of said floor and form therewith a watertight seal.

In the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, said bucket hangs substantially pendent from its hinges 7: and bottom portions of said bucket are downwardly.so to be adapted to drain. Said biukct carries rotatable spools Z at each end, which spools ride upon the pivoted arms h. Thus the pivotal movement of said arms it cause said bucket to be correspondingly mevd into and out of receiving posi tion.

I provide a flexible cable 4% which I conncct to the transversely arranged rod 2' fastened to each arm it between the pivot pin 9 and the free end thereof. Said cable is mounted over a guide pulley a and is wound around an operating drum 0 which is adapted to be turned by a key-like handle p and to be locked in set position by a pawl g which is adapted to engage the ratchet '2'. The preferable type of operating drum and its control mechanism is the ty 3e described in my co-pending application for patent entitled Lock, which was executed and filed upon the same date as this application. The details of said control mechanism will thus not be further described.

Said control mechanism is preferably mounted in the partition 0 between the toilet room and aisle with the operating portion 0 thereof facing said aisle. Thus, the key like operating handle p can be arranged to engage said operating portions by a car attendant standing in said aisle without interference or warning to the occupants of said toilet room.

The pref-erred size of bucket j provided for railway cars has a capacity of approximately eight gallons so that the toilet facilities can be used several times and the contents fiushed into said bucket.

My improved mechanism is adapted to utilize a container of this large size and thus permits the uninterrupted use of the toilet facilities on railway cars when they are standing in the yards, preparatory to pulling out, and also through cities through which said railway cars pass. It is to be understood that my mechanism does not affect the construction of the toilet facilities in the slightest and serve merely as adjustable containers movable into position to catch their discharge. Thus with said bucket-like container in position any resultant odor will be prevented from passing into the toilet room by the water traps or other arranged to slope valve structures with which said toilets are commonly provided.

I claim:

1. In a railway car, having a toilet outlet ex le g through the floor thereof, a longitudinally arranged frame member, a bracket mounted on said frame member, an arm pivotally carried by said bracket, an open top bucket, of substantial size, hingedly mounted, means carried by said bucket adapted to slidably engage the free end of said arm, and manually operable means for moving said arm about its pivot and therewith said bucket about its hinged axis, said means be.- i'ng inaccessible from the toilet.

2. In a railway car, having a toilet outlet extending through the floor thereof, a longitudinally arranged frame member, spaced brackets mounted on said frame member, arms pivotally carried by said brackets, an open-top bucket of substantial size, hingedly mounted to be moved into a position beneath the toilet outlet and in sealing cooperation with the floor, rotatable spools carried at each end of said bucket adapted to slidably engage the free ends of said arms.

3. In a railway car, having a toilet outlet extending through the floor thereof, a longitudinally arranged frame member, spaced brackets mounted on said frame member, arms pivotally carried by said brackets, an open top bucket of substantial size, hingedly mounted to be moved into a position beneath the toilet outlet and in sealing cooperation with the floor, rotatable spools carried at each end of said bucket adapted to slidably engage the free ends of said arms, and means for moving said arms about their pivots and therewith said bucket about its hinged axis.

4:. In a railway car, having a toilet outlet extending through the floor thereof, a longitudinally arranged frame member, a bracket mounted on said frame member on the side thereof that faces the adjacent side of the car, an arm pivotally carried by said bracket, an open top bucket, of substantial size, hingedly mounted, and means carried by said bucket adapted to slidably engage the free end of said arm to move the bucket into a position beneath the toilet outlet and in sealing cooperation with the floor, or to a position wholly beyond the toilet outlet with the bucket arranged for draining therefrom.

ABRAHAM L. LEVY. 

